Cash security guards set to strike

Thousands of security guards who deliver cash to banks are to stage a three day strike which could hit "hole-in-the-wall" machines over Easter, a union warned today.

Members of the GMB at Securicor will walkout from midnight on April 14 in protest at plans to cut cash delivery teams to one person.

The workers refill cash machines and deliver money to and from banks and other financial institutions.

Paul Kenny, a senior GMB official, said cash machines could be empty over Easter because of the strike.

"Our members are at the end of the road from attacks on their pay and conditions - and themselves. They have not even had a pay offer and yet the company is expecting them to agree to more dangerous working conditions."

4,500 workers affected

The union said 4,500 workers were involved in the dispute, adding that a ballot had shown 82% in favour of industrial action.

National officer Brian Strutton said: "Transporting cash is a dangerous job and to reduce the teams to one is asking for an increase in robberies and puts our members' lives at risk.

"We ask the public not to panic and only withdraw the amount of cash they need so there is enough for everyone.

"Our hope is that the company will drop their

plans for lone employee cash deliveries and return to the table with a decent pay offer."

The GMB said pay rates in the cash services division of Securicor were £5.75 to £6.04 an hour - around £11,000 a year.

The company said it was still negotiating with the union when it decided to hold a strike ballot.

"We have briefed the Health and Safety Executive on the proposal to go to one member working and they raised no concerns.

"We are continuing to negotiate with the unions and we want to come to an amicable conclusion, but we will take every step to minimise disruption."

Securicor said in a statement: "We regret that the GMB have decided to take industrial action although we are still hopeful that a strike can be averted."

Talks may resume

The company said it had a meeting with the union on Wednesday when negotiations would resume.

"Should a strike go ahead we will do all we can to minimise disruption to our customers. Out of the 6,000 workers only two thirds are unionised and one third isn't. As far as the proposal to increase the number of one-person crews is concerned, we should point out that we briefed the Health and Safety Executive on the proposal and they raised no concerns.

"A significant percentage of our services are already undertaken by one-person crews with no increase in the number of attacks."

The statement added that Securicor was concerned for the safety of its employees and was committed to continuing negotiations.